Credit card decline ‘may not be the full story’

According to CardGuide, borrowers are still spending large amounts of money but are taking out personal loans or overdrafts rather than relying on credit cards.

Furthermore, some people have only reduced credit card spending so that they can divert their finances to pay off rising mortgage payments.

Citizens Advice recently said that although British Bankers’ Association (BBA) figures show credit card lending contracted last year by £1.8 billion, it is far more likely that people are borrowing in different ways.

By contrast, David Dooks, director of statistics at the BBA, has argued that declining credit card borrowing shows that consumer appetite for credit has clearly waned.

The charity, which handled 1.4 million debt problems in 2006, added that people’s inability to pay back overdrafts, credit cards and personal loan is contributing to the country’s debt crisis.